


louder than sirens, louder than bells

by HeyNonnyNonnyHey (NatureTheZafara)



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Actually this thing might be full of OOC, Alternate Universe, Creepy Pitch, Gen, Gift Fic, I might have made him too sadistic, I'm so sorry, Inspired by Music, It's not the 1600's that's for sure, Jack is still human here, Like maybe 20th-century onwards, M/M, Not quite sure what time this is set, OTL, Pretentious Hamlet references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-06
Updated: 2013-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-14 03:46:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/832337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatureTheZafara/pseuds/HeyNonnyNonnyHey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Oh, Laertes,” he murmurs, gently combing his fingers through Jack’s brown hair as the latter shudders and gnashes his teeth beneath him. “How now your sweet little Ophelia? You must know by now that you cannot protect her from everything in this world. Not even from her nightmares.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	louder than sirens, louder than bells

**Author's Note:**

  * For [whironston](https://archiveofourown.org/users/whironston/gifts).



> My first part of a trade with my sister.
> 
> I apologize for everything; I'm not really in the _Rise of the Guardians_ fandom, so I'm not sure if I'm doing this right. Please forgive me. ^^;
> 
> Inspired by '[Drumming Song](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boo2Zm69fhY)' by Florence + The Machine.

“Stop... Please, stop...”  
  
Oh, how he loves the sound of that. The sound of his voice cracking under the weight of his mind; the sound of his hitched, hyperventilating breathing; the sound of a young man falling into fear, into madness. The shadow man grins at the boy trembling at his feet – oh, he is _still_ a boy, and the fears of children are what the Bogeyman feeds on – and kneels down beside him. He places a cold hand on the boy’s head.  
  
“Oh, but you know I couldn’t,” Pitch Black croons in a low voice. From his free hand he conjures a fistful of black sand and pours it over Jack’s head. Before it hits the boy’s face the sand floats in mid-air and morphs into terrifying visions – visions of a little girl, no older than ten, dying in the most horrible of ways: sickness, freezing, murder, falling, drowning—  
  
“S-stop it! _Stop it!_ ”  
  
The Bogeyman only lets out an amused chuckle. “Oh, Laertes,” he murmurs, gently combing his fingers through Jack’s brown hair as the latter shudders and gnashes his teeth beneath him. “How now your sweet little Ophelia? You must know by now that you cannot protect her from everything in this world. Not even from her nightmares.”  
  
The sands shift, and from her deaths now they form her insanity – the memory of the past weeks: night after sleepless night, her screams, trembling and mutteringunder her breath of yet another vision of ‘the shadow man’, her desperate cries and pleas as the doctors pull her away from her brother and into a prison of wards and white tiles. The boy cries, and the Bogeyman grins wider.  
  
“Can you hear her voice, Jack? Can you hear her scream and cry and beg for her beloved older brother to come rescue her from the doctors and the shadow man?” Pitch’s tone mocks that of a little girl’s. “‘Oh, Jack! I’m so scared! The shadow man won’t go away! Oh, don’t bring me to the doctor’s! Oh, Jack, please don’t leave me alone!’ Ha! Can you sense her _fear_ , Overland? Where is her knight in shining armor _now_? Where is Ophelia’s savior, Laertes?!” Pitch conjures more black sand and pours it over Jack’s head, and another scene unfolds – the shadow man appearing before the girl, the girl’s brother finally meeting the cause of her madness, but not before the shadow man devours the girl whole—  
  
“NO!” Jack snaps. “ _LEAVE HER ALONE!_ ”  
  
The boy jolts from the ground and faces the Bogeyman, eyes wild and desperate. The black sand disappears. Neither brother nor shadow man move. There’s a moment of silence, which is then broken by a bored, nonchalant sigh coming from Pitch. He gets up and, turning his back on Jack, walks away a few steps. He can feel Jack’s angry eyes piercing through him. He only gives a dry laugh.  
  
“And there he is,” he murmurs, clearly amused. “Of course. Now, you remember why I can’t _just_ stop, Jack? You brought this upon yourself.” He turns to face the boy again, smiling. “Such a valiant older brother, sacrificing his stable days and peaceful nights for his little sister’s own. So that she may never be full of fear again. It’s touching, really.”  
  
Jack continues to glare at Pitch. “I hate you,” he growls.  
  
“I know, I know,” Pitch merely dismisses Jack’s words with a flick of his hand. He turns away from the boy again and walks a few steps forward, then suddenly halts.  
  
“I almost forgot to mention,” he says, almost casually. “Emma will be released from the hospital tonight. Those doctors say that her hallucinations have stopped, and that she is well and stable enough to go home and go on with her life.”  
  
At the news, Jack’s eyes light up and a smile almost forms on his lips. “Really?” He stands up, almost celebratory, but his expression darkens again soon after. “If you even just dare _touch_ her, Pitch, I swear—”  
  
A sigh. “No need,” he replies nonchalantly. “Now that I think about it, I’m quite of bored of your sister. Her fear is not very amusing. However...”  
  
Before Jack realizes what’s happening, the Bogeyman turns on him and tackles him, pinning him down onto the ground again.  With one hand he holds the boy down by the throat, and with the other he grabs him by the hair and conjures more black sand to surround his head. Jack is helpless against his worst fears; he screams and cries and trembles beneath Pitch’s grasp. Oh, how the shadow man loved the sound of fear. He smiles at his victim.  
  
“Your fears, Overland... I think I’ve grown quite fond of you, Laertes.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry, Shakespeare OTL


End file.
